This update brings you how the clock will personally greet you when you stand in front of (it?, "It" seems so impersonal. My daughter Chrystal has named it "Tic", she says since we are going to make it talk. "Tic - T(alk)". Close enough explanation I guess. I use it as an acronym ("T"alking - "I"nteractive - "C"lock ). Here is the missing bracket).
So we programmed the Arduino to use the 2x16 LCD screen and Ultrasonic sensor to accomplish this. Below are pictures with the readout on the screen:
Please excuse the crudity of my drawing, Chrystal is still laughing about it.....
So right now we have got the family member recognition up and running. The binary clock attachment is working. We have the thermostat controller running but we have to get the voice control connected and working. The light control hasn't been set up yet, but the programming is complete. It works similar to the height recognition system except it looks for movement and non-movement. Still working on the clock itself, once it is built the time keeping program will be the final step.
More explanation of the light control:
So the ultrasonic sensor has set distances programmed into the Arduino, like from the clock to the couch unoccupied.
When someone is sitting on the couch the sensor reads a different distance which makes it aware that someone is there.
Now I have set the parameters to have a "<" and ">" value, if this value stays "=" for more then the set amount or reads the default of the couch being unoccupied the lights will dim for 2 minutes then shut off. If the couch is occupied and the occupant hasn't moved (value stays consistent for set time) it is considered they have fallen asleep. If someone walks in the room, the lights will only turn on to dim as to not wake the sleeping family member unless the couch is empty.
I will set the lights to turn on dim if it past a certain time of night unless you ask "Tic" to turn the lights on full.
Thank you for reading,
Dale and Chrystal Winhold
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